Broadcast News

Call For Entries For SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) have issued a call for entries for the SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival.

The event is scheduled for Tuesday, 27 Oct, following the Opening Night Reception for the SMPTE 2015 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (SMPTE 2015) in Hollywood, California, and will be hosted by SMPTE Standards Director and film director Howard Lukk. The deadline for entries is 09 Sept.

"The SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival will give students the chance to demonstrate their creative and technical artistry and to learn more about how their interest in the art and science of filmmaking can open doors to professional opportunity in our industry," said Barbara Lange, executive director of SMPTE.
"Highlighting the work of both SMPTE and HPA's youngest members, this event offers guests an intriguing glimpse into the future of the motion-imaging industry."

The SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival, which is supported by Sundog Media Toolkit, will feature three award categories:
• Best creative use of technology to engage the audience in the story (run times five minutes or 30 seconds)
• Best portrayal of entertainment technology in the film — documentary format (run times five minutes or 30 seconds)
• Best creative use of virtual reality (VR) in storytelling (run time three minutes)

A fourth award, for best in show, will be voted on by the festival attendees and awarded on the evening of the festival.

"Creativity and technology are powerful enablers of one another in supporting engaging storytelling, and we look forward to showcasing the ways in which the newest members of our industry use these tools in their own short films," said Leon Silverman, president of the HPA.
"For the students themselves, the film festival offers the chance to get their work in front of prominent industry innovators, thought leaders, and executives."

Film festival jurors will include Patrick Creadon, whose critically acclaimed documentaries have been ranked within the top 100 highest-grossing documentaries of all time; Dave Ginsberg, an editor and technology consultant who implements enabling technologies for postproduction and broadcast-industry leaders; Peter Girardi, senior vice president of creative affairs at Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) and Blue Ribbon Content (BRC), the studio's short-form digital series production unit; Bobby Hewitt, cinematographer, editor, and director of global ad campaigns and short films, as well as music videos for Mötley Crüe and Darius Rucker; Travis LaBella, a director of photography who earned the ASC Student Heritage Documentary Award for "Language of the Unheard" and who worked on "Telescope," one of the first films to go through a complete 4K Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) workflow.

The jury also will include Patricia Keighley, senior vice president of IMAX Corporation and co-founder (1972) and managing director of IMAX POST/DKP Inc.; A. Dale "Bud" Mayo, president of Carmike's Alternative Programming and Distribution and, earlier, the chairman and CEO of Digital Cinema Destinations Corp., Cinedigm, and Clearview Cinema Group; Evan Saxon, a leader in creating and implementing innovative marketing and distribution models in both the music and film industries — and for documentary films, in particular; Ted Schilowitz, founding member, first employee, and product development team member at RED Digital Cinema and now "futurist" at 20th Century Fox and "cinemavangelist" at Barco; Richard Welsh, co-founder and CEO of Sundog Media Toolkit Ltd. and, earlier, director of digital cinema at Dolby Laboratories and head of digital cinema operations at Technicolor; and Nick Dager, editor and publisher of the website Digital Cinema Report.

The SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival is open to full-time students currently enrolled in an accredited college, university, or film school. This is an international festival, and entries from all parts of the world are encouraged.

As the festival focuses on technology, students should ideally major in an area that emphasizes engineering, science, advanced technologies, or fundamental theories associated with motion imaging, sound, metadata, and workflows consistent with SMPTE's field of interest. Eligible students are required to have completed four courses toward their major course of study and be in good academic standing. Supporting documentation and identification must be presented in order to qualify.

There is no fee to enter, and SMPTE membership is not a prerequisite for submission of a film. However, students may join as student members of SMPTE for just $10 or for free if this is their first year of membership when they apply via the Student Membership Challenge (SMC). Further information about the SMC is available at smpte.org/student-membership-challenge.

Admission to the SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival is free for students, and a $25 donation is suggested for others. Tickets are required and may be acquired with SMPTE 2015 conference registration. Further information about the SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival, including jurors, complete rules, and resources, is available at smpte.org/film-festival.